Upper Lott’s Creek Primitive Baptist Church is one of Georgia’s oldest Primitive Baptist congregations, organized in 1832 during a major split in the Baptist denomination. At the time, many churches were adopting Sunday Schools, mission programs, musical instruments, and other innovations. Traditionalists rejected these changes, forming the Primitive Baptists, or Old Line Primitive Baptists, who valued simplicity and resisted outside influences, especially when promoted by the social elite.

The church was founded under the leadership of Absalom Parrish, whose family is buried in the church cemetery. Originally called Parrish’s Meeting House, it was rebuilt and renamed Upper Lott’s Creek after a fire destroyed the first building in 1841. The current Greek Revival-style sanctuary, built in 1881, still stands and contains 26 Parrish family graves among its historic interments.

According to the National Register of Historic Places, the antebellum split between Primitive and Missionary Baptists was fueled partly by disagreements among slaveholders over whether to proselytize among enslaved Africans and send missionaries abroad. Old Line Primitives feared such outreach would dilute the faith and introduce unwelcome customs. Many members were small landowners or poor whites, often at odds with wealthy Missionary Baptist slaveholders, who saw religious instruction for enslaved people as a tool for control and a defense against Northern criticism of slavery.

In Bulloch County, large plantations claimed the best farmland, leaving smaller farmers on less productive soil. The creation of Parrish’s Meeting House was as much a statement of independence from the Missionary Baptist elite as it was a religious act.

The property also includes a historic baptismal site used from 1881 to the 1950s. Baptism—a prerequisite for membership—was one of the most important sacraments for Primitive Baptists, and for nearly seventy years, members were baptized in Upper Lott’s Creek itself.

For over 180 years, Upper Lott’s Creek has served its community, making modest updates while preserving its traditions. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, it remains a living link to Bulloch County’s early history.